The Chinese provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have joined with Shanghai to reach a consensus on building up a joint mechanism for forecasting air quality during the World Expo 2010.
The mechanism is said to cover nine cities in the Yangtze Delta Region, including Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou. It is said that the latest air quality data covering major cities in the region will be released daily.
So far, Jiangsu province has initiated an air pollution and gray haze emergency monitoring system, involving 26 automatic monitoring sites in four cities in the province: Nanjing, Suzhou, Nantong, and Lianyungang. The joint monitoring will last from April 1 to November 15, 2010, focusing on the monitoring of SO2, NO2 and PM10. In addition, the province has completed installation of desulfurization facilities for oil fueled power plants and set up an online monitoring system for major desulfurization facilities to share data with coal power plants of the region. In addition it has conducted a comprehensive rectification on major pollution industries such as iron and steel, chemicals, building materials, and shipping.
To guarantee the air quality during the World Expo 2010, which begins on May 1, Jiangsu will also optimize its power generation and pollution control as requested by Shanghai and take joint actions when necessary.
